Canada and the online gambling dilemma

The Canadian province of
Alberta is again making headlines in the online gambling
industry. It was just announced that the Alberta Gaming and
Liquor Commission (AGLC) is conducting a survey among its
residents to find out how they feel about
online gambling, with
the question focusing mostly on the games of
poker,
blackjack
and bingo. The survey started through the phone in the beginning
and now it's spreading online, as well. However, spokesman for
the AGLC said that it will take a long time before, and if, the
local government allows Internet gambling websites from outside
the province to operate on its jurisdiction.

This has sparked quite a
debate, and a big opposition from Calgary's Catholic church and
other social consciousness advocates. They are calling the
willingness of the Alberta's government to allow Internet
gambling "immoral" and that they are ignoring the social side of
the act and focusing only on the money aspect of the possible
future legalizing of online gambling websites from outside the
province, claiming that the impact on the citizens would be much
greater than any profits drawn from it.

And on the similar issue -
AGLC is now investigating Alberta's First nation, which is
offering to host online gambling websites from all over the
world on their territory. According to the commission this is
illegal gambling and they are committed to go through with
cracking down on it.

Alexander First Nation
announced late last year that it will offer licenses and
regulation to online gambling operators saying that the treaty
band can operate under its own gambling laws separately from
Canada or
Alberta. There has been no evidence that gambling
websites have started operating yet, but AGLC is keeping a close
eye on it. For this time there is nothing illegal, just a
website soliciting the service, province regulator has said.
According to Norm Peterson, the provincial regulator, AGLC will
shut down any online casinos which may start operating in the
future with Alexander. However, Alexander is building a huge
2,300 square foot data center to accommodate future servers.

Some experts say that they are
following the model in
Quebec established by the Mohawk
Territory of Kahnawake which is one of the worlds largest hosts
for online gambling websites. There are hundreds of
online
casinos licensed under the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, some of
which include
Bodog, founder of which is Calvin Ayre, who was
born in
Saskatchewan. Quebec's attorney general has been quoted
many times of saying that it's illegal, but charges have never
been filed against them, as some legal experts have argued that
the Kahnawake Gaming Commission is protected by the Canadian
constitution.